Medical First Aid Guide

Table 10: INGESTION OF CHEMICALS

Ingestion of hazardous materials at sea is rare but can occur through attempted suicide, contaminated food or water, or through poor personal hygiene.

Ingestion of a toxic material can cause retching, vomiting (sometimes the vomit is blood-stained), abdominal pain, colic and later diarrhoea. Particularly severe symptoms are caused by corrosives, strong acids, alkalis or disinfectants which burn the lips and mouth and cause intense pain, and rarely perforation of the gut.

Ingested poisons can also produce general toxic effects (e.g. impaired consciousness, convulsions, or heart, liver and acute kidney failure) with or without irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, and such effects can be delayed.

In all cases of ingestion, if the casualty is completely alert and able to swallow, treat as follows:

Have the casualty rinse mouth with water. Give one glass of water to drink.

Observe in a place of safety for at least 8 hours.

If a significant amount of material has been ingested and the casualty complains of pain in the mouth or the stomach, give two tablets of paracetamol every 6 hours until the pain is relieved. RADIO FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.

Do not give salt water to induce vomiting, as it may be dangerous to do so.

Inducing vomiting by stimulating the back of the throat is usually ineffective and may cause aspiration of the chemical into the lungs, and therefore should not be attempted.

Dilution with large amounts of water or other liquid is not recommended as it may increase the absorption of the chemical.

Syrup of Ipecac is not recommended, as it may cause aspiration of the chemical into the lungs and there is no evidence of clinical benefit from its use.

Activated charcoal is usually not recommended at sea because if unconsciousness occurs it may be inhaled into the lungs. Its use in a given case should always be discussed with the radio medical advice.